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Who Really Owns Atlas Comics? Not Jason Goodman...Yet!

Who
owns Atlas Comics? If you answered with
the obvious reply, Jason Goodman (grandson of Martin), then you’re only
partially right. While it’s true that
Goodman is publishing comics using the old Atlas/Seaboard characters, and is
running a line under the Atlas Originals brand, his company, Nemesis Group Inc,
is currently battling a person named Jeffrey Stevens over the Atlas name. How did this all happen? To understand how this has all come about,
it’s worth looking at the history of the name, Atlas Comics, and how it relates
to both Goodman and the current characters that he’s using, and just how
Stevens, who is the current owner of the Atlas Comics trademark, has been able
to sneak in and snare the name.

After
leaving Marvel Comics in 1974, Martin Goodman went and formed another company,
which he named Atlas Comics. Goodman had
used the name Atlas previously as a predecessor for Marvel Comics (in order,
the company was known initially as Timely Comics, then Atlas, then, finally,
Marvel Comics). It’s well known that
Atlas (or, as it’s generally known, Atlas/Seaboard, which is the name I’ll
refer to from now on to differentiate it from the original Marvel Atlas)
exploded onto the comic book scene in 1974 and was gone, in a spectacular
fashion, in 1975. The company was dead
and buried and the characters lay with their respective copyright holders, with
the Goodman family owning a number of them.
The name, Atlas Comics, remained fairly stagnant until 2002 when Stevens,
who claims to have created many comic book characters and concepts for a number
of years as both writer and artist, began using the name Atlas Comics with the
view of being able to, “…pay homage to comic book history, while simultaneously
incorporating a modern twist in an adult-oriented tongue in cheek manner.” Stevens
then established a web presence via his site, Atlas Comics Group, and moved
things up another notch by filing for the Atlas Comics trademark. As nobody disputed the trademark application
when it was gazetted, the trademark, and name, was duly handed to Jeffrey
Stevens in October 2005.

Jeff Stevens' Atlas Logo

Atlas/Seaboard 1970s logo

1950s Atlas Comics Logo

In
his 2005 claim for the Atlas Comics trademark, Steven stated that the name
would be used for the publication of comic books and was selected due to the
historical connotations of the name and with the understanding that the name
had lapsed in 1975 shortly after Atlas/Seaboard ceased publishing. Stevens also claimed that he believed the name Atlas
Comics would remind people more of the first, 1950s pre-Marvel Comics, Atlas Comics,
also a Martin Goodman owned company, than the second, 1970s Atlas Comics. Contradicting this claim, Stevens has elected
to use the 1970s stylised Atlas logo, as opposed to the 1950s Atlas ‘globe’
logo. Despite his use of the name, Stevens’
stopped just short of using the Atlas/Seaboard characters, but not for wont of
trying. Stevens has admitted that he did
look into the possibility that some of the Atlas/Seaboard characters were also
in the public domain, but a search discovered that Jason Goodman owned them
outright. Stevens made an approach to
Goodman but couldn’t meet the asking price, so that idea was soon
forgotten. Similar approaches to the
likes of Harris Publications and the Byron Preiss estate also proved
fruitless. As a result Stevens has
created his own characters; Creole
Science Action, Astro Pygmy, and Psychic Octopus Jr.

From
2002 to 2005 according to his own memories, Stevens worked hard creating his
characters and in 2005 and 2006 he began to contact a number of comic book
professionals to provide art for his comics, including (by his own account)
Steven Silver (Kim Possible), Kazu
Kibishi, Sheldon Bryant, Alex Nino and Alex Ross. Stevens claimed to have attended the 2004
MoCCA Festival where he handed out fliers for his Atlas launch, and where, he
claims, Batton Lash also started to promote the new line. There’s no real proof of the latter though,
other than a photo of Lash and Stevens in a photo gallery on Lash’s web-site, taken
at the MoCCA 2004 function, with no mention of Atlas/Seaboard other than a
caption referencing a Grim Ghost
cartoon that Stevens had published in issue #40 of Lash’s Supernatural Law.

Via
his Atlas Comics web-site, Stevens offered at least four new titles for sale:
Atlas Comics Preview (as an ash-can), and three issues of Atlas Comics Previews
(as a series), but there is no real proof that these comics ever made into
shops or were offered at conventions, despite Stevens claiming that both
outlets, and mail-order, have seen his titles sell since 2005, although he has
yet to name any retailer who has stocked his line and, when challenged, Stevens
has been reluctant to provide any documentation or account of any sales. Despite there being no public record of
sales, Stevens has also claimed to have been selling his product since 2005,
however none of his Atlas Comics appear anywhere else, and there’s no entry for
them in databases such as the CBG. The
artist, for at least one cover, was Mitch O’Connell, who promotes himself on
his web-site as the ‘Worlds Grooviest Artist’, and who makes no mention of his
work with Atlas Comics on his site, which appears to be very comprehensive. Other than the credit for O’Connell there’s
no way of knowing who wrote, drew, edited or did any other work on Stevens’
Atlas titles as such information has yet to be supplied. Further muddying his claims the Stevens owned
Atlas Comics web-site ceased to be updated with new content in 2007, despite
Stevens claims to the contrary.

Stevens
has claimed that he contacted Marvel Comics in 2006 with a threat of legal
action over their Agents of Atlas
series. In an interesting turn of
events, Stevens has claimed that although Marvel didn’t reply to his letter,
they did cease publication of the offending title shortly after. This is slightly disingenuous as the title in
question was a six issue mini-series, and it’s more likely that Marvel merely
ignored the request as frivolous, if indeed such a request was sent. Since 2006 Marvel have published further
comics with the title Agents of Atlas,
including thirteen issues in 2009 alone, and while Stevens did file an
objection to Marvel’s registration of the Agents
of Atlas trademark in April 2011, the objection was terminated in August
2011 in Marvel’s favour. Stevens has also
claimed to have contacted Diamond about another offending title, The Killers, which was to be published
by yet another entity known as Atlas Comics, and received a replies claiming
ignorance and begging forgiveness from the publisher in question and a statement
from Steve Leaf at Diamond stating that they had contacted the vendor in
question and request that they change their brand name.

Fast
forward to 2010 when Jason Goodman announced the relaunch of Atlas Comics,
after a hiatus of over thirty years, and began to file for the trademarks of
the characters, including Wulf, Vicki, Tiger-Man, Phoenix, Grim Ghost, Morlock 2001, Iron Jaw, Targitt, Scorpion and Devilina
along with titles of the original Atlas/Seaboard range, such as Savage Combat Tales, Planet of The Vampires, Western Action, Blazing Battle Tales and more.
Nemesis’s re-launch featured the original Atlas/Seaboard characters,
updated to reflect changes, and a group of writers and artists, including Steve Niles, Dean Zachary, Nat Jones, Tony Isabella, Kelly Jones and others were duly hired
to work on the titles. The last
formality, or so Goodman must have thought, was to reclaim the Atlas Comics
name. Once the Goodman’s lawyers did a
standard name search, in late 2010, they discovered to their shock and surprise
that the name Atlas Comics was gone, claimed by Stevens in late 2005. Naturally infuriated at being denied what he
felt is the family right, Goodman set his lawyers to work on Stevens,
petitioning for the cancellation of Stevens’ claim, on the grounds of
abandonment, claiming that Stevens had done nothing to promote Atlas Comics,
had not produced, let alone sold, a single copy of any title and as such had no
right to the Atlas Comics name.

When
the case reached the stage for depositions, Stevens was nowhere to be found
(his own lawyer stated that even he was having trouble locating him) and
managed to avoid all attempts to tie him down for a deposition, while also not
producing any materials or documents outside of a few emails and what appear to
be covers for his comic books. When
pressed to produce names of people who could testify about Atlas Comics, Stevens
elected to name the likes of Jeff Rovin (who worked for Atlas/Seaboard), J.M.
DeMatties (who has worked for Nemesis), Richard Emms and Brendan Deneen (the Art Director and EIC respectively at Arrden Entertainment, the company who are publishing Nemesis) and Jason
Goodman himself. Tellingly Stevens did
not nominate any person that he claimed to have worked with, such as Mitch
O’Connell or Batton Lash, or who he attempted to work with, such as Alex Nino
or Alex Ross, to assist his claims of using the name since he claimed the
trademark. Indeed Stevens appears to
believe that he doesn’t have to prove his claims, instead putting the burden of
proof firmly on the shoulders of Nemesis and Goodman, with limited material
from his end.

As
expected, Jason Goodman’s reply to Stevens was full of rage and full of
allegations of Stevens intentionally delaying proceedings, not appearing at his
own deposition with no explanation and violating the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure by intending to avoid any form of discovery. Goodman’s own declarations were full of
invective, asking that Diamond be examined as to the nature of any dealings
with Stevens, wanting to know why Stevens contacted Goodman to purchase
characters and insisting that Stevens not only had never sold a title, but had
no capacity to sell any titles via his Atlas web-site. Goodman’s lawyers also stated that all
attempts to contact Stevens failed over a six month period as his phone did not
answer and emails were not returned. Further
insisting that he is the only person fit to hold the Atlas Comics trademark, Goodman
stopped just short of calling Stevens an outright liar and con artist with his
claims. In Goodman’s eyes, Stevens is,
“…nothing more than a squatter seeking a big pay day to buy back from him
rights he never had the first place.”

By
electing to stonewall Goodman, Stevens might have hoped that the issue would
vanish or be resolved quickly in his favour (with either a monetary payout or
unchallenged ownership of the trademark), but the effect was quite the
opposite. Goodman had his lawyers
increase the pressure, and finally, on the 4th of January of 2012,
well over a year since the action began, Stevens finally replied to Goodman’s
allegations. Again electing to ignore
the claims of Nemesis, Stevens asked for summary judgement on the basis that
Goodman has not established a prior right to the name Atlas Comics, nor have
they supplied any proof to bolster their claim.
Stevens continued that, as Nemesis had no chance of winning their case due
to Nemesis having an absence of prior rights to the Atlas Comics mark, he
(Stevens) had decided not to undergo discovery and instead wanted the case
decided on the documentation already supplied, such as it was. Stevens also cried poor, to an extent, stating
that he has a limited budget and time constraints due to external full time
work, thus meaning that he wasn’t available for a deposition from August
through to the end of November. In an
amazing move, Stevens, via his lawyer, has stated that, “Unlike NGI, which
seeks to piggy-back on the colossally unsuccessful publishing efforts of NGI’s
owner’s grandfather more than 30 years ago, Registrant has continued to use his
trademark, as shown by the publications he has produced and sold since first introducing
his ash-can in 2005.” If that statement
was deliberately designed to infuriate Goodman then rest assured, it will work.

Jason
Goodman, via his Nemesis Group, has now published several Atlas related titles,
including The Grim Ghost, Phoenix and Wulf the Barbarian, and is in the process of introducing Iron-Jaw. The latest project is titled Atlas Unified, a series that will
further re-introduce Atlas/Seaboard characters, including Manhunter, Sgt Hawk, Sam Lomax and Kromag, amongst others. Goodman
has indicated that he’ll continue to use both the Atlas Comics name and the Atlas/Seaboard
characters for the foreseeable future meaning that the fight isn’t over just
yet, not by a long shot. In the event
that summary judgement is handed down in favour of Stevens, it will be a sure
bet that Goodman and Nemesis will file an instant appeal. Jason’s grandfather, Martin Goodman, took on
all comers from Joe Simon on down and won (for right or for wrong) and by the
wording of the statements filed, his grandson appears to be cut from a similar cloth.

Watch
this space for more developments as they occur.

In
the meantime, does anyone actually own any of the Jeffrey Stevens Atlas
Comics? If so then let me know.

Screen shot showing Jeff Stevens' Atlas Comics for sale, and the use of the 1970s Atlas Comics logo

Jeff Stevens Atlas Comics covers. Stevens claims that these comics have all been on sale at conventions, mail order and at comic book stores across the USA

Comments

I was wondering if you have any insight on the ownership of Strikeforce Morituri. Marvel just published a new reprint of the first issue and will be reprinting all of them in TPB in 2012. I always thought the ownership of this was nebulous. At one point I thought Carl Potts owned it and this was hanging up a possible film deal. Do you have any insight on this one?

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